our cnn's jim acosta was there. there is no press briefings but this was the president speaking to military members and their families. it was kind of like a rally, was it? >> reporter: it was really was. talking directly to his own audience. his audience today was u.s. military personnel here at sicily. the president claimed that he hit a home run on his foreign trip. fredricka, the under occurrence of this entire trip and the one that's waiting for the president when he gets back home and that's the russia investigation. we did not hear from the president in terms of talking to reporters. he did not answer questions from reporters in any kind of formal setting except for a couple of occasions at the beginning of this trip. this is unloo i cike what we ha seen, these two officials spoke on the report but on the camera, they were bombarded with questions of the russian investigation. the president's son-in-law and these reports back channelling with the russians during the transition that this was something jared ku

. >>> breaking news from jim acosta over at the white house. acosta reporting from his sources that back on november 10th, an important date, that is when president obama sat down with then president-elect trump for their very important, private meeting. in that meeting, jim acosta's learning from his sources, president obama warned president trump against hiring michael flynn as his national security adviser, warned him personally and directly during that meeting in the oval office on november 10th. early lew errol lewis is here with me still, jeffrey toobin, senior legal analyst. how significant is that? >> you can always tell what's going on with president trump because he tweets exactly what he's thinking. >> like this morning. >> and he's very uncomfortable with congress looking into this while michael flynn thing. he essentially threatened sally yates, which is something presidents are not generally supposed to do, you know, essentially threatened her by saying that she, you know, implying that she released classified information. >> here

let's get back to the view from saudi arabia, it is history, as we point out and jim acosta is live there in riyad. jim, what have we been watching and what do we expect further to see? >> reporter: we've been watching the president welcomed by the saudi king, king salman here in riyad. it's been a pretty colorful spectacle, this official welcoming ceremony for president trump here in riyad. you'll see more of that pomp and circumstance over the next 24 hours as the president meets with saudi officials and other gulf leaders. he's delivering a big peach to the muslim and arab world tomorrow. during that speech he'll call on the muslim world to do more in the fight against terrorism. even though the president looks pretty fresh, looks rested in these pictures we're told by reince priebus, the chief of staff, the president did not get a lot of sleep in this flight from washington over to riyad. so it will be interesting to watch the president's movements because this is gk to oing to b grueling for the president on his first foreign trip. some interesting color as you noted melania trump wa

cnn's chief national security correspondent jim sciutto and our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. i know you've got some breaking news, some new reporting on the president's personal attorneys now being asked to provide sensitive information to the u.s. congress. what can you tell us? >> that's right, wolf. another person connected to president trump being drawn into the russia investigation. this time it is president trump's personal attorney michael cohen who is a fixture of course throughout the campaign cycle frequently appearing on cnn and other networks as a surrogate to donald trump. he has been requested by the house and senate intelligence committees to provide information and testimony. i just got off the phone with

person captured in intercepted communications. >> let r let me go back to jim acosta. what's been the reaction to the white house from this report, jim? >> so far the reaction has basically been what it is all along. the white house continues to say there's no evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russia during the election psyc psyccycle and one thing we should say is this white house is in the process of putting taogether a war room operation and respond to all these stories. just yesterday the former campaign manager, corey li lewandowski, deputy campaign manager david bossie were both seen leaving yesterday. they were inside talking to people inside the west wing about all of this. they are some of the names surfacing as part of this war room operation that's being set up at the white house. the question is whether or not corey lou d corey lewandowski takes a position at the white house. that would be something that would need to be passed by the president's family. you'll recall during the campaign he was fired by the campaign and first among the peo

. >> all right, now in the midst of a wind storm of cnn senior, g jim acosta is traveling with the presidentight now. what's going on as they are in the banquet there? >> reporter: besides the sand storm sweeping through the location right now, the president has arrived to dinner with king salmon. wilbur ross was doing a traditional sword dance and some of the pomps and circumstances that we have been seeing all day long. the saudis are proud of the fact that president trump has made their country of the first stop of president of the united states of the first trip over seas. during that news conference that shimon was talking about moments ago with respect to the investigation of trump campaign ties with russia. tillerson did not answer questions that was asked about all of that. he basically said he did not have any information to offer on that. the foreign minister talked about some of the areas they have in common. one interesting comment we heard is the phrase "drain the swamp" was used. it is a speech that the administration have been pointing to over the last couple of weeks as one o

let's go to jim acosta.so what's the reaction you're getting over there from official eats the white house? >> it is almost radio silence here at the white house. in response to this washington post story. if true, it means that president disclosed highly classified information during meeting he had last week with the russian ambassador, sergey kyliak and lavrov. he was already under criticism because of the optics of it. now bb the national security adviser to the president, hr mcmaster, did walk by reporters within the last hour inside the west wing. he was peppered with questions about this washington post story and according to reporters who were there if the room and heard hr mcmaster respond to all of this, the only thing they heard him say is this the last place i want to be. and then he surreyed away from reporters. at this point, the white house, national security staff, wolf, had been given us any kind of response to either confirm it, knock down the report, comment on it, what have you. but we sho

jim acosta has more. >> this is a great plan. i actually think it will get even better. >> reporter: this was a critical first step in delivering on a campaign vow -- to repeal and replace obamacare. and the president was making even more promises, that trumpcare is going to deliver for consumers. >> as far as i'm concerned, your premiums, they're going to start to come down. we're going to get this passed through the senate. i feel so confident. >> reporter: appearing with house republicans to savor the moment, the president and gop leaders were all but reading obamacare its last rites. >> i predicted it a long time ago. i said it's failing and now it's obvious it's failing. it's dead. we'll finish it off and go on to other things. >> reporter: in victory speech after victory speech, the gone was laying out its strategy to see trumpcare over its biggest hurdle yet where moderate republicans and democrats are likely to see a far less conservative vision of the bill. house speaker paul ryan tried to make the case obamacare isn't w

thanks very much to jim acosta. the first reaction from leon panetta as we learn details about officials limning the sensitive information they share with michael flynn during the transition. t is off to a good start, but knowing so many things can go wrong with it... kinda freaks me out. well, unfreak yourself out... and download the free creditwise app from capital one. creditwise gives you a credit score, and alerts you to changes. even if i'm not a capital one customer? nooooo! yeah, it's free for everyone. thank you. gravity, is a fickle mistress. what's in your wallet? just turn on cars.coms on tprice dropswant? and get real-time notifications that could help save you money. use cars.com and save. when i feel controlled by frequent, unpredictable abdominal pain or discomfort and diarrhea. i tried lifestyle changes and over-the-counter treatments, but my symptoms keep coming back. it turns out i have irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, or ibs-d. a condition that's really frustrating. that's why i talked to

let's go to jim acosta. what are you learning, jim? >> the white house isn't denying that president obama warned president trump he should stay way from michael flynn but aides to trump are chalking up the former president's feelings as quote bad blood. >> well, i just had the opportunity to have an excellent conversation with tle president-elect trump. >> it seemed like a cordial meeting in the oval office two days after a bitter election. >> the meeting lasted for almost an hour and half. as far as i am concerned, it could have gone on longer. >> former obama officials tell cnn president bam. offered then president-elect trump a clear warning, don't hire retired general michael flynn as national security adviser. one report says obama told trump there are more qualified people for the position. caution from one president to another came more than a month and half to another that flynn ta talked to the russian ambassador. >> it is true that president obama made it known that he wasn't exactly a fan of general flynn's. >> still, the wh

cnn's senior white house correspondent jim acosta is live in sicily. tion some are asking is will the president have anything critical to say at this gathering about russia? >> reporter: that's always a question with president trump, pam, you're right. we should point out that the president is very close to wrapping up his first overseas trip. spent much of the day once again largely avoiding reporters' questions, leaving it it up to his aides to explain some of his comments about other world leaders. at the g7 summit in sicily the italians put on quite an air show, almost flying as fast as president trump racing past the cameras as he congratulated a montana congressional republican on his election victory. with the russian investigation hanging hover him the president spent another day of his foreign trip dodging reporters' questions. instead the white house trotted out top economic adviser gary cohn who was forced to do damage control saying that the administration wasn't changing its position on sanctions on russia. >> we're not lowering our sanctio

jim acosta: "right now, people with pre-existing conditions are covered. they are not discriminated against. why not keep that protection in place? sean spicer / white house press secretary: "the president has made it very clear, pre existing conditions are covered in the bill under every scenario. i dont know how much clearer we can state it. jim acosta: "so anybody who has a pre-existing condition under trumpcare, they are going to be fine? sean spicer / white house press secretary: "yes." democrats aren't buying it. rep. nancy pelosi, d-minority leader "they think they can dupe the american people, by saying, well, we were going to eliminate pre-existing conditions // it's a joke. it's a very sad, deadly joke." trump: "it's a great honor to have the president with us..." on foreign policy.. the president is taking on another big middle east peace. palestinian president mahmoud president palestinian as he met with peace.middle east challenge.. another big taking on president is policy.. the on foreign us..."president with have the great honor to have the

>> jim acosta, thanks very much, reporting from riyad. christi? >> let's talk to errol louis with spectrum news and sarah from "the with a ush wash exami washington examiner." listen to what jeffrey toobin will to say about this latest "new york times" report. >> it does seem very close to a confession of obstruction of justice. i mean, he is talking about james comey, who was investigating them, and his campaign, in connection with the russian campaign manager "i fired him and the pressure's off." it doesn't seem much more complicated than that. >> is it for complicated than that errol. he seemed to think it was cleave-cut. >> it certainly marches you down that road. the real question, what does that mean? if the president can be alleged credibilitily to have obstructed justice, what's the remedy? we always end up right back at the same place not because it's an exaggeration but it's just what the constitution allows for, impeachment is about the only remedy that you have. the notion that you can sort of go in and maybe hit him with some kind of

and he's been saying flattering things about vladimir putin in the past. >> jim acosta, thank you. joining me now, christian ye amanpo amanpour. it's one thing to say you would meet kim jong-un or detear day. they're different leaders. but kim jong-un, to say he brought his country forward, you can make the argument, he brought his country backward. there's untold people in political prisoner camps. >> over the last week or so, he has managed to cement himself in power with unprecedented violence by north korean dictatorship standards. there's the famous story with the aaa anti-aircraft gun, mowed down the opponents. like the uncle, the military behind the scenes. strong man and other opponents. he has cemented his rule by this incredible fear and violence. and even the president of china, we read, when he was talking to president trump, in mar-a-lago, had only negative things to say about kim jong-un. and kim jong-un hasn't been to see the president of china. to be frank, nobody outside of north korea really knows who he is. but the idea of meeting with -- well, that's not complet

let's gets to senior white house correspondent jim acosta. things got sort of heated today at the briefing. >> reporter: it certainly did, wolf. the white house held an on-camera briefing or steering clear of the cameras on the president's foreign trip. white house press secretary sean spicer didn't offer much information to reporters refusing to say much about jared kushner being swept up in the russia investigation and is insisting that the president is happy with the message coming out of the white house on the same day his communications director announced he's stepping down. it was back to the briefing room for white house press secretary sean spicer, and as is often the case in a spicer briefing the back and forth over the russia investigation was especially intense. >> he didn't know at the time. when did he find out? >> i think that assumes a a lot. >> reporter: considering spicer's response when if the president knew about an attempt to establish a back channel with the kremlin using russian facilities. did the president discuss? >>

thanks very much to jim acosta.the first reaction from leon panetta as we learn details about officials limning the sensitive information they share with michael flynn during the transition. z286oz zwtz y286oy ywty as after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. what about the people i care about? ...including this little girl. and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me? so isked mctor. and he recommended eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. yes, eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. both made me turn around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you h

for new reaction, let's go to jim acosta. what is the white house saying tonight? >> i just talked to a white house official who describes staffers as exhausted. because of the last 72 hours of bombshell announcements. the russia news came down monday when it was revealed that the president talked about classified information with r h russian officials. last night about the comey memo in which the retired -- former fbi director said that the president tried to shut down the flynn investigation. then, of course, the news that is coming down tonight that bob mueller, the special counsel, in the russia investigation. i think one other very interesting point to point out -- i just got this from administration official, that the attorney general jeff sessions was here at the white house whether the mueller news came down. the president and his attorney general jeff sessions were very much in the dark whether this n when this news came down from the justice department that a special counsel had been named. at the same time, we should point out the response from the white

jim acosta is our senior white house correspondent, what do they say there at the latest development? >> nothing yet, wolf. we should report that sean spicer is not even in his office right now. it is possible that top officials are huddling behind closed doors to sort of craft a response to this news that bob mueller, former fbi director is a special prosecutor in this case but we can tell what you they have been doing all afternoon here wolf is really toning down the rhetoric, toning down optics that we have been seeing coming out of this white house over the last week. instead of tweets from the president and statements from the briefing room with sean spicer, what we have been seeing all afternoon is this white house parading candidates for the position of fbi director in front of the cameras, going in and out of the door to the west wing to meet with the president throughout this process. i can tell you right now, wolf, we are waiting for former leader on the ticket, he has been meeting with the president this afternoon about that job for fbi director as well as andrew mccabe, ac

, air force one, soon after jim acosta will be on his way back to d.c. too. thanks so much. bring in my panel now, talk more about all of this, cnn political analyst julien zellzer a historian and professor at princeton, jay newton small a contributor for "time" magazine, cnn law enforcement contributor steve more is a retired supervisory special agent for the fbi and legal analyst page pate is a criminal defense attorney. thank you so much. >> thank you. steve, let me begin with you because we already heard from, you know, admiral john kirby that there are secure channels in place that trump's predecessor has used to be in connection with russia or anybody else. can you describe would there be a legitimate reason why there would be a new kind of back channel that would be as "the washington post" and cnn reporting has described, that would involve a russian interest building in d.c. for this new administration? >> my understanding of the political nature here is that when you have a newly elected candidate, frequently they want to establish communicatio

, man ewe rauj, jim acosta joins from us the white house jim explain how the white house is reacting because several people in that office put out statements although in om says they're not really address wlag the actual reporting said. >> that's right. i think it's save to say the anderson is white house is knocking down the story they are saying false as reported but in a carefully worded statement you could hear the national security adviser to the president h.r. mcmaster addressing reporters earlier this evening really tailoring his words to declare this this story is just not accurate. here is what he had to say. >> there is nothing the president takes more seriously than the security of the american people. the story that came out tonight as reported is false. the president and the foreign minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries including threats to civil aviation. at no time -- at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. two other senior offi

jim acosta has more. >> reporter: robert mueller has been tapped to be the special prosecutor in the russia investigation. insisting there was no collusion with his campaign and russia. the administration officials say the white house received almost no advanced notice of the news before it was announced by the justice department. same for jeff sessions who was here at the white house when the news came down. it is unclear how it impacts the white house. one white house official describes staffers e s exha. >> plenty of capitol hill insiders caught off guard by the special prosecutor. paul ryan was alerted before the announcement. the entire rank and file was not. still lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are applauding the choice of robert mueller. >> that goes for republicans who have seen their agenda side tracked among mounting pressure to push back against the president. one republican aide tells phil mattingly said the pounding was an issue. we have more from sunlen serfaty on capitol hill. >> reporter: good morning, dave and christine. the response has been overwhelmingly pos

. >> jim acosta is out front with the president in rome.losers" coming from the president himself. no speechwriting, no one around him, this was him. >> that's right. we were told that was something he wanted inserted into the speech he delivered early today that conveyed his view that these terrorists like the one that carried out the attack in manchester needs to be summed up in no uncertain terms. you heard the president do that earlier today. we should point out that the president's going to be meeting with the pope tomorrow but then he goes off to nato meetings in brussels later in the week. the president has said that nato needs to take on a more active role when it comes to counterterrorism, so you may hear the president speak of that in brussels later this week. one other thing that has coming up, the white house officials were asked is the president distracted bothered by the noise back home with the russian investigation. they say no, they're focused on their objectives. we're told by a senior official has confirmed that the presi

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is traveling with the president. m. >> reporter: wolf, president trump took the extraordinary step of scolding much of the nato alliance for failing to pay its fair share to the partnership. he also stopped short of endorsing a key nato agreement to come to the common defense of the alliance. >> thank you. terrible thing. >> reporter: for president trump it was a day of shattering the norms of global diplomacy. moments after calling for a moment of silence to remember the victims of the manchester attack and a stepped up fight in the battle against terrorism -- >> all people who cherish life must unite in finding, exposing and removing these killers and extremists and, yes, losers. they are losers. >> reporter: the president stuck it to nato, chastising member countries he insists aren't meeting their financial obligations to the alliance. >> but 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying for their defense. this is not fair to the people and taxp

let's bring in senior white house correspondent jim acosta. e jim, the president seemed to be thrown by this subject coming up in an interview to make his 100 days. >> that's right. a puzzling remark president trump made. the president appeared to defend his allegation in an interview cbc but also in the same breath he seems to say he doesn't stand by the comment what makes the exchange even more baffling is that president also appears described in the a accusation as his opinion. here's what he had to say. >> he was very nice to me but after that we've had some difficulties. so it doesn't matter. you know, words are less important to me than deeds. and you saw what happened with surveillance and everybody saw what happened with surveillance. >> difficulties how? >> well, you saw what happened with surveillance. and i think that was inappropriate. >> what does that mean? >> can you figure that out yourself. >> well you said you call him sick and bad. >> look, you can figure it out yourself. he was very nice to me with words. but and when i was

. >> jim acosta joins us now. house going to try to get funding for the wall in the next budget bill? >> reporter: that's the plan, and keep in mind that this wall is going to cost $12 billion to $15 billion. they're going to try to fight this out in september when they're going to try to hammer out a budget for fiscal 2018. there's no plan whatsoever that's been hatched to make mexico pay for the wall. take a look at this picture that was tweeted earlier today. it was tweeted by a conservative rabbi, it says on the wall, build a border wall and eventually make mexico pay for it, not any time soon, anderson, but eventually, and no timetable on what eventually means. >> if memory serves me, that rabbi was michael jackson's spiritual advisor. i might be wrong about that. >> he was visiting steve bannon today. >> jim acosta thank you. a lot to talk about with the panel. so is there any evidence to support the white house's argument that this is a win? >> the president did promise there was going to be a lot of winnin

o that coming in from our own jim acosta. jeff zeleny, let's get back to you. >> reporter: a little bit of context to jim acosta's reporting there. he's watching sarah sanders like he does with every briefing, the president. and they believe sarah sanders is a good communicator, a good spokeswoman. but there's also a good bit of blame to go directorly to the oval office. you can blame a lot of things on sean spicer, the white house press secretary, but last night's reaction to this is probably not one of them. and this is why. i am told this is held to such a tight group of people. the president wanted to execute this so quickly, he did not give his communication advisers much of a heads up at all. we are talking about a number of minutes, not hours to put this into place. that is just one of the inner workers going on. so interesting sarah sanders saying that, you know, that the president didn't have the confidence of director comey for months. that's the first time we've heard that. so i asked her directorly then why didn't

let's go straight to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta for the very latest. jim? >> reporter: wolf in, a series of interviews designed to mark his first 100 days in office president trump has raised more eyebrows about his policies and beliefs from being wiretapped so he claims by president obama to north korea and to health care and the civil war and his top aides are spinning their wheels to explain the president's comments. >> that's why in the first 100 days -- >> reporter: more than 100 days in office and now nearly as many new questions for president trump after head-scratching comments to reporters. after weeks of tough talk aimed at north korea the president told bloomberg he would meet with that country's dick stator kim jong-un adding if it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, i would absolutely, i'd be honored to do it despite the fact that chief of staff reince priebus said it's not happeninging. >> can you imagine a scenario where president trump and kim jong-un sit face to face and have a conversation? >> not right now i can't. >> white hous

let's begin with jim acosta this hour. he's live in jerusalem. president trump is basically gotten a break from the russia scandal on this trip. explain what's happened. >> he has to a large extent. we should warn our viewers, those are fireworks. i want to make sure everybody knows those are fire works happening. a part of the pomp and circumstance that is welcoming president trump here to the holy land. and he has largely avoided the russia issue throughout this trip. the secretary of state rex tillerson was asked a brief question about this over the weekend. but we should point out that during a photo opportunity with the israeli prime minister earlier today, a reporter shouted out a question about this matter of when the president met with the russian foreign minister a couple weeks ago. it was during that meeting and other outlets have reported that e he shared israeli intelligence with the russian officials and the president offered this misleading explanation about that when he was asked about this earlier today. take a listen. >> never me

jim acosta is traveling with the president and jim the president left town with this health care victory in his pocket. tell us about what is going on where you are. >> that's right, brianna. president trump is taking another break from washington. although this time he is not down at mara laggo. he is spending the weekend at his golf club in new jersey. and the president is feeling confident he has improved his game when it comes to health care, even though there are plenty of hazards that lie ahead in the senate. the president's prognosis on trump care sounds like it'll be a cinch in the senate tweeting, big win in the house, very exciting. but when everything comes together with the inclusion of phase 2 we will have truly great health care. the president is promising trump care will be a big league bargain for consumers. >> premiums will come down substantially. deductibles will come down. fantastic health care. >> we expect there to be some changes but we expect the principal answers main pillars of the health care bill as it is now to remain the sane. >> isolating their biggest prob

jim acosta joining me now from riyadh where he is traveling with the president. so, jim, what should we expect from president trump in this twitter forum that will kick off at any moment? >> reporter: right, we're expecting the president to kick off this twitter forum in just a little while from now, he's going to be joined bier rex tillerson and our own counter terrorism. he's going to be talking to young people in saudi arabia about their use of twitter and so on. no word yet on whether we'll get into trump's own twitter use from time to time. he will focus on how twitter and social media can be used to really foster extremism and terrorism in all parts of the world including the united states. so you'll hear the president get into some of that and talk about some of that at this forum. really the main event of the day is the speech he just gave to the muslim world here in riyadh, dozens of countries had their leaders listening in as the president did sort of an etch a sketch on his own rhetoric that you have heard from the president as a candidate in the past,

cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta is traveling with the president in jerusalem. jim, today the president seemed to perhaps inadvertently confirm that story that sources say he shared intelligence with the russians. >> reporter: that's right, jake, and the white house is hoping the president can change the narrative back home by showing off the alliances he's building with leaders other in the middle east, but the president finds new ways to step on his own message. he did that today when he tried to offer up an explanation for his sharing of israeli intelligence with the russians that didn't add up. president trump is discovering it's not so simple to bring the art of the deal to the holy land after suggesting middle east peace might be easy just weeks ago, the president acknowledged what his predecessors have known for decades. it's not. >> i've heard it's one of the toughest deals of all, but i have a feeling that we're going to get there she gently. i hope. >> reporter: even as mr. trump continued this photo-op for his foreign trip by becoming the first sitting

first, let's go to cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta, traveling with the president, he's there in riyadh. so jim, the president is calling this tremendous. he promised that this renewed relationship means jobs, jobs, jobs. what else? >> that's right. you know, you heard the secretary of state rex tillerson during that news conference a few moments ago really tout this arms deal that was signed between the president and saudi king salman, they'll pump $110 billion worth of weapons and military assistance into the saudi government as they try to counter iran's influence in the region. much of that money will be used to combat the iranian backed houthi rebels in yemen we hear so much about from time to time, but we don't want to bury the lead or the headline too much. we should point out, in addition to the president's comments today, in addition to the secretary of state's comments during the news conference, the secretary of state took a pass when it came to a question about the russia investigation that has been swirling around this administration, swirling around this wh

let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta who is straflg with the president now in rome. tell us about the president's reaction, jim. >> reporter: that's right. that's right, wolf. president trump is in rome where he'll meet with pope francis here at the vatican tomorrow. earlier today he was in israel and condemned the terrorist attack in manchester. he also gave a label to the concert killer that was vintage donald trump. >> president trump tapped into his branding skills to stamp the terrorist who carried out the massacre and others like him evil losers. >> oh, my god. >> so many young, innocent, beautiful people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life. i won't call them monsters because they would like that term. they would think that's a great name. i will call them now on losers because that's what they are. they are losers. >> reporter: in addition to tweeting we stand in absolute solidarity with the people of the united kingdom the president spoke in bethlehem along with palestinian president mahmoud abbas and took notice of the tim

thank you very much jim acosta.n the context of this latest reporting from the washington post, jared curb her now a focus of investigation. out front now rick santorum, dan phifer, dan let me give you a chance to respond to that. as jim is saying, maybe the sanctions could go away. now we have this breaking news this hour that jared kushner is now a nouks in the russia investigation. tough timing for this president. le. >> right. i think -- we don't know what the russian investigation is going to find. what we do know that the policy positions advocated by trump in the last couple of days are ones that make vladimir putin very happy. the sort of threatening nato saying you're not going to back up article 5, browbeating nato, our closest allies, these are the exact things vladimir putin wants the united states to do. so he is a big winner in this. >> should the president have raised the prospects of lifting those sanctions with russia in any way? >> i don't agree with that. on the issue of browbeating our allies, th

the white house is in damage control mode once again, and jim acosta is at the white house for us. jim acosta, i have to say once again it seems as though the president is undercutting members of his own white house team who are providing what they hope are explanations for things he has done. >> reporter: that's right, jake. the president did that last week when it came to the firing of fbi director jim comey. he is doing it this week when it comes to this information he shared with the russians and as for that information we should pass on that u.s. sources are telling us other at cnn that the source of that information that the president provided to the russians was the -- was the government of israel, at least some of that information came from israeli sources, and all of that is unfolding as the white house is still refusing to say that the president even shared classified information with the russians as the stonewalling here at the white house continues. >> did you reveal classified information to the russians are, sir. >> reporter: for president trump the question of the da

. >> now, a source close to jim acosta or close to the investigation tells jim acosta caputo wants to clear his name in public testimony. is the committee open to that? >> look, there have been any number of people who are involved in this investigation who have said that they're willing to come forward and clear their name. some have asked for immunity. you know, we have heard that general flynn has asked for immunity. it is way too soon to think about something like that. we have a companion justice department investigation, a senate investigation taking place at the same time. you know, we have to work in concert with both of them as well as a dod investigation of general flynn apparently. we're hoping to open and close hearings. in my mind the more open this investigative process is, the better it is, the american public has a right to know what took place. under each circumstance it will be a little bit different. obviously we can't have confidential top secret information revealed. >> right. we know the tuesday hearing as far as my understanding of what's on the house intelligen

jim acosta.ive coverage of the president's first over seas trip to saudi arabia when we come back. ugh, no bars. oh no, looks like somebody needs a new network. when i got this unlimited plan they told me they were all the same. they're not. verizon has the largest, most-reliable 4g lte network in america. it's basically made for places like this. honey, what if it was just us out here? right. so, i ordered you a car. thank you. you don't want to be out here at night 'cause of the, uh, coyotes. ok, thanks, bud. bye. be nice to have your car for some shelter. bye. when it really, really matters, you need the best network and the best unlimited. just $45 per line for four lines. so how old do you want uhh, i was thinking around 70. alright, and before that? you mean after that? no, i'm talking before that. do you have things you want to do before you retire? oh yeah sure... ok, like what? but i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement? we're absolutely doing that. but t

the problem with the russians, someone told jim acosta, is that they lie.. first of all, it is very unusual that a u.s. agency would not be allowed in to take photos and the russians would. but i'm not sure i've seen anything like this. >> i'm sure they must be feeling this way in london. i don't think we'd expect to get it. but let's just think back here to ten days into the trump presidency. they a may meets with trump and she says, you know, if you're going to deal with russia, know that they can be misleading. don't automatically trust them. understand that they can be difficult customers. that was the essence of it. so right now they must be saying really? really? you're complaining about this? watch the whole narrative on the comey firing, understanding we have heard president trump has been thinking for some time that fbi director comey was unfit for the duties and the sacking on the eve of the opportunity of a photograph which would have this potentially have this narrative against the background of all the political implications that go with the fi

jim acosta, great points. thank you so much. >>> so how will these mounting questions on russia contacts impact jared kushner and the administration overall as -- as we move forward. our panel weighs in next. which you are you? be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recentl

. >> cnn's jim acosta just arrived in riyadh, saudi arabia, ahead of president trump's arrival. jim, the president will be faced with yet another headline to respond to. i guess he has wi-fi up there. it could happen any moment but he'll be asked by report remembers as soon as he lands. >> reporter: that's right, jake, and i can tell you that just talking to his senior administration official on the way over here, they have not made any plans for a press conference during this trip. we might still have a press conference, but as of this point they have nod scheduled a news conference during this president's eight or nine-day trip, and so this just sets the stage for what we see at the white house on occasion which is a reporter shouting questions during pool sprays when the president is sitting down with a foreign leader or a diplomat, and that might be what you see happening here over the next several days. now, i can tell you right now, jake, there are some armed uniform officials on the roof of my hotel. they are asking me to stop the live shot so i'll probably have to stop he

. >> let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta and sunlen serfaty. jim, we'll get to obamacare in such a moment, but we have some new reporting on what the trump administration is doing with michelle obama's girls education program. update our viewers on that. >> that's right, wolf. this is something that came from our great white house producer. he reported this, that the trump white house has decided not to continue michelle obama's let girls learn initiative. this was a program that was used to help adolescent girls in developing countries develop their educational skills and according to our reporting, over here at cnn, the wrd went out through a letter to peace corp workers that they're no longer going to use that brand or use that program as part of their initiatives. another example, wolf, of how things are changing over here at the white house. anything that seems to have the obama brand on it is going out the window, including what appears to be a pretty worthwhile program that was advocated by the former first lady. >> so where do we stand w

cnn's jim acosta shows us now how the white house is trying to manage this crisis or these crease easehind the scene. >> you will find that things are not always fair. >> reporter: it was not your ordinary commencement speech as president trump delivered remarks to graduates at the u.s. coast guard academy and it became clear -- >> look at the way i've been treated lately, especially by the media. >> reporter: the speech was all about him. no politician in history, and i say this with great assurity, has been treated worse or more unfairly. you can't let them get you down. you can't let the critics and the nac'esters get in the way of your dreams. the people understand what i'm doing, and that's the most important thing. i didn't get elected to serve of the washington media or special interests. >> reporter: the defiant remarks to the coast guard graduates hardly sounded like a president lost at sea, more like had a commander in chief gearing up for bat. consider what homeland security secretary john kelly said to the president after he was presented with a ceremonial saber. >> use tha

>> jim acosta is out front at the white house. think people need to understand, this is not just a silly typo, or perhaps it may have been if they had had an explanation. but for the president to come out with a nonsensical tweet and no one to take it down for hours and hours and hours, that is no insignificant thing. does the white house really think this explanation of oh, a small group of people knew exactly what he meant. and believe me, there was an intention. that going to fly? >> i don't think so, erin. i think it defies credulity. you saw the president try to make light of it about five or six hours after the original tweet. who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe? the 39 went on to tweet enjoy. but i think it is an indication that the white house is still not doing much to review the president's tweets. you'll recall there was that published report that team of lawyers was going to be getting together to start reviewing the president's tweets. that is obviously not happened. that is obviously not going to be the ca

let's go to senior white house correspondent jim acosta. big celebrations over there. >> reporter: that's right. they were taking a victory lap on the rose garden of the white house even though the checkered flag is nowhere in sight at this point. but in addition to assuring republicans that this legislation will make its way through the senate, the president also offered up some new promises that sounded as ambitious as president obama's vow in the past that if you like your doctor you can keep it. the president was promising americans that their deductibles will go down, their premiums will go down. it was a performance vintage president trump. here is what he had to say. >> as far as i'm concerned your premiums will start to come down. we will get this passed through the senate, i feel so confident. and this is a great plan. i actually think it will get even better. i went through two years of campaigning and i'm telling you know matter where i went people were suffering so badly with the ravages of obamacare. i predicted it a long time

let's go to jim acosta at the white house for us. m, now it is time for the president to make deals with the senate to get something passed through the senate. >> reporter: that's right. >> what is the president's message as we all watch this bill move forward into that process? >> reporter: i think the message from this president is to trust him. you know, he worked the phones mightily throughout this process, jake, and, you know, i think at this point, you know, this was a victory lap here in the rose garden but perhaps a half victory lap because, as you've been saying, this not only has to go through the senate, it has to perhaps after the changes are made there go back to the house and satisfy all of these republicans and even some democrats who will have to vote in favor of making these changes to obamacare. so we're well short of the finish lien for the white house and republicans in congress to repeal and replace obamacare. you heard the president here in the rose garden try to make the case this is going to lower premiums for

>> jim acosta, thank you very much. more on the story that jim mentioned and cnn was first reported on what russians may have believed they had on the president and people close to him. it's a potentially explosive story. it comes with reasons to be very careful about what we're reporting and not reporting. cnn's dana bash has the very latest on that. dana, what are you learning? >> anderson, you know we've been reporting for months that the russians wanted to influence the 2016 election. what we're learning now is that some russians talked about whether they had leverage over trump's inner circle. two former intelligence circles and a congressional source tell cnn that during the 2016 campaign, russian government officials discussed having potentially, quote, derogatory information about then presidential candidate donald trump and some of his top aides. one source described the information as financial in nature and said the discussion centered around whether the russians had leverage with tr p trump's inner circle an

another came from president obama to president-elect trump more on than from jim acosta. >> i just hadthe opportunity to have an excellent conversation with president trump. >> >> on the superiorities seemed like cordial meeting between the outgoing president. >> the meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half. and it could have as far as i'm concerned it could have gone on a lot longer. >> but behind closed doors former obama administration officials tell cnn former president obama offered president-elect trump a clear warning don't hire michael flynn. one obama official said mr. obama told mr. trump there were more qualified people for the position. that caution from one president to another came more than a month and a half before flynn spoke with the russian ambassador about sanctions on moscow. and nearly two months before flynn was fired by president trump for not coming clean on the conversation. >>> it's true the president -- president obama made it known that he wasn't exactly a fan of general flynns. >> still the white house is putting the blame on the obama administration f

bring in jim acosta. sally yates wasn't the only one who warned the trump administration about hiring michael flynn as the president's top national security adviser. you have breaking news on this. what are your sources telling you? >> that's right, wolf. as a matter of fact, it was president obama who warned then president-elect trump on november 10th. you'll remember that 90 minute oval office meeting that they had here at the white house two days after president trump was elected. they both were sitting in the oval office and according to our sources then president obama warned the president-elect not to hire michael flynn, to stay away from the retired general in part because he was being swept up in this russia investigate and also i'm toll by former obama administration official that in the view of president obama there were just better people for president-elect trump to select for the position of national security adviser. of course this news broke, wolf, just a few hours after president trump twe

jim acosta joins us now. so what's the late word from the white house? >> reporter: it's hard to imagine a worse 72 hours in president trump's life. and what you're seeing tonight, anderson, is a very different president trump, a very restrained president trump, he's not talking about so-called judges as he did after the travel ban. he's not threatening the former fbi director james comey as he did last week when he talked about tapes on twitter. consider this very restrained statement coming from the president of the united states tonight on the tapping of bob mueller as special prosecutor, it says as i have stated many times a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know, there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. i look forward to this matter concluding quickly. in the meantime, i will never stop fighting for the people and issues that matter most to the future of our country. an incredible turn of events when you consider the last week. remember the white house put out a same that essentially laid some of the respo